Pasco police said Tuesday the woman who caused quite a stir on Facebook with a claim that men were luring and scaring her and her child now admits she embellished "a lot" about the story.

The incident began with a Friday post from the woman, who claimed while she was in the Pasco Walmart, several men on their phones were staring at her daughter, implying they were part of some sort of sex ring. She then claimed it scared her and she and her daughter were followed around the store, resulting in her panicking and leaving her cart behind--running from the store with her 12-year-old.

The post went viral, with over 1,600 shares. However, she deleted it Monday after officers spoke with her. According to Pasco Police, she admitted she embellished "a lot" in the story, and lied about having contacted police. She had not, and they reached out to her when they saw the post.

Her post resulted in another person on Sunday writing a similar third-person post claiming a stranger told a father that three men were watching HIS kids at the same Pasco store. Police say this also baseless claim implied that Pasco is one of the top cities in the U.S. for this kind of behavior, which officers say is not true.

After examining surveillance footage, officers saw one of the men in question playing on his phone standing near the woman who wrote the post. He glances up at her, then goes back to his phone. In one sequence, he even moves out of the way to allow her and her child to pass, then goes back to what he was doing and doesn't follow them.

Pasco police issued a statement saying in part:

"If you see something, say something. Do it immediately,Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Don't blindly repost things on social media without some effort to verify it. It's often done with the best intentions, but it spreads like wildfire."

No word if any charges or actions taken against the woman for the allegations and stir she caused.  Here is part of Pasco police statement:

Pasco police statement
Pasco police statement
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